The Old Greenbelt Theatre is located within the historic Roosevelt Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The marquee of the theatre is in the middle of the Roosevelt Center, a delightful plaza surrounded by restaurants and other businesses. 

Our address is 129 Centerway, Greenbelt, Maryland 20770.

There is ample free parking surrounding the Roosevelt Center, in which the theater is located. There are three lots that surround the center, and a strip of parking on Centerway. Be advised, the parking on Centerway is limited to handicap parking and sections of 30 minute or 1 hour parking, which is enforced. We recommend parking in one of the three lots around the Center.

Handicap parking is available in all of the three parking lots and the parking on Centerway. The Centerway handicap spots are the closest to the theater. We do not advise patrons needing handicap parking to use the lot on the opposite side of Centerway (by the Greenbelt Aquatic and Fitness Center) as this requires going up a considerable number of stairs to access the theater. Park in the lot by the Greenbelt Coop or behind the Greenbelt Municipal Building.

There are a number of local dining options within the Roosevelt Center, and other restaurants a short drive from the theater.

Within Roosevelt Center

Cedars of Lebanon – serves Lebanese/Mediterranean food. (301) 345-0100

Generous Joe’s – serves pizza, sandwiches, hamburgers, fries. (301) 474-4998

New Deal Cafe, in cooperation with Greenbelt Co-op – Greenbelt Co-op provides a curated menu for dining. Serves wine & beer. Local hub for live music. (301) 474-5642

Short Drive to Roosevelt Center

Silver Diner – serves traditional diner fare, along with heart-healthy options and vegetarian/vegan-friendly fare. (301) 220-0028

Outside food or beverages are not permitted in the theater, so please enjoy your entire meal at the restaurant. 

The Friends of Greenbelt Theatre has a mission to be a hub for film in Prince George’s County, and we believe this means making the movies accessible to all, both financially and for patrons with various assistive needs. We are committed to keeping our ticket and concessions prices low to ensure financial accessibility, and we are a fully ADA-compliant cinema with a variety of assistive devices; closed captioning and descriptive video service devices are available for most screenings, and we provide a weekly open captioned screening (if available from the distributor) for our weekly first-run feature.

What is open captioning (OC)?
Open captioning means words show on the screen and everyone can see them. It’s similar to subtitles for films in a language other than English, however open captioning also includes words that describe relevant sounds in the movie. Our Sunday matinee is usually Open Captioned (if available from distributor), but check our calendar and look for the OC designation in the showtime for the weekly OC screening.

What is closed captioning (CC)?
Closed captioning can only be seen by using a special device that can be requested at our concessions counter. Not everyone can see the captions. Only the people using the device can see the captions.  In our main auditorium, we provide closed captioning through Rear Window Captioning (RWC). The person using the device will see captions on the film. People who are not using the closed captioning device will not see captions.   

Are all films available in OC or CC format?
Films are captioned by the studios, so OGT does not have control over which films are and are not captioned. Most first-run features from major studios have captions. But many older films or independent films are not available with captions. Go to our calendar, then click the film title to see whether CC is available for that film.

What is an assistive listening device?  
Assistive listening devices help people who are Hard of Hearing amplify the audio of a film. There are two assistive kinds of listening devices available to borrow at Concessions:

• For people who do NOT use a hearing aid: the device increases the volume of the film just for you. You wear it around your neck and use headphones to hear the sound.  
• For people who DO use a hearing aid: wear the device around your neck and click the T switch on your hearing aid. The T-switch blocks out environmental sounds and so you can tune in to just the audio from the film.

What is Descriptive Video Service (DVS)?  
DVS is a descriptive audio recording that provides a verbal description of visual elements in a film for patrons with visual impairments. This device, available to borrow at Concessions, is worn around the neck and used with headphones (provided). To find out if a film offers DVS, go to our calendar, then click the title of the film.

We provide the traditional movie theater fare, along with specialty items from local vendors. 

• Fresh-popped popcorn
• Fountain sodas (Coke products)
• Box candies (M&Ms, Junior Mints, Raisinets, etc.)
• Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, iced tea, juices, seltzers
• We feature a rotating offering of local hand-crafted snacks. We’re always looking to partner with local businesses to spread the economic benefits of our theatre. Some of our most recent features have been:
  • Sweet Cascades chocolates
  • Baba’s Brew kombucha
  • Dundalk Dan’s Beef Jerky
• We have the most affordable concessions prices of any movie theatre in the region. A medium popcorn and medium soda is only $8.25. That’s because we are all about making film accessible and affordable.

We also offer OGT merchandise for sale at our concessions counter. We have t-shirts, zipper pulls, stationary, reusable tumblers and more.

The Old Greenbelt Theatre was opened in 1938, part of a federally planned New-Deal-era community. The core of Old Greenbelt was declared a National Historic District in 1997. This includes the theatre.

The first screening, which took place on September 21, 1938, was “Little Miss Broadway,” a musical drama starring Shirley Temple. Admission prices were 30 cents for adults and 15 cents for children.

The theater building is now owned by the City of Greenbelt, which acquired the building in 2000 and engaged in a major renovation/restoration of the lobby area in 2014-2015. The auditorium is scheduled for a renovation/restoration summer 2019, with new seats and draperies.

The auditorium of the theater has 363 seats, a 40’ CinemaScope screen, two Simplex XL 35mm projectors, a Christie 4K digital projector, and a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound system. This is the biggest screen in Prince George’s County, and one of the most advanced projection systems in the area.

The non-profit organization Friends of Greenbelt Theatre was established in 2013 as an IRS-designated 501(C)(3) nonprofit to bring increased community programming to the Old Greenbelt Theatre. FGT was selected as operators of the theater starting May 1st, 2015.

The Friends of Greenbelt Theatre is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors made up of Greenbelt residents and regional representatives who are all dedicated to diverse entertainment and educational cinematic experiences.

The mission of the Friends of Greenbelt Theatre is to create a center for film culture in Prince George’s County by revitalizing the Greenbelt Theatre as a cultural and social hub and by maximizing the Theatre’s potential as an economic and cultural driver.

The Friends of Greenbelt Theatre was selected in 2018 as “One of the Best” nonprofits in the DC metro area by the Catalogue of Philanthropy after a rigorous vetting process.

The main auditorium of the Old Greenbelt Theater will be closing on June 3 for renovations that are estimated to take four months. In the interim, we will be operating a Pop-up cinema next door at 125 Centerway. 

To learn more about the long term vision for both of these spaces, read more about our Beyond the Screen Initiative.

The Old Greenbelt Theatre is a non-profit organization. While we do sell movie tickets and concessions, we keep a fraction of the income from these revenue sources. We can only do our specialty programming and guest speaker engagements with the support of our community!

We only make a small percentage of our income from movie ticket and concessions sales.

• The theatre only retains 30% of ticket sales. This is $2.70 of a $9 ticket. The majority goes to the film distributor.
• The theatre only retains 60% of concessions sales. This is $4.95 for a $8.25 purchase of a medium popcorn and medium soda.

However, we keep 100% of memberships and donations, which support our non-profit operations and keeps our ticket and concessions prices low. You can become a member of the Old Greenbelt Theatre here.

How much does membership with the theater cost?

• Family Membership is $85 per year, and includes free admission for all kids under 12.
• Senior Couple Membership is $70
• Adult Membership is $50
• Senior/Student/Military Membership is $35

What are the member benefits?  

• $6.50 tickets
• Free ticket and popcorn during your birthday month
• Weekly emails
• Free admission for Family Member children (up to age 12)

We offer additional benefits for our Founders’ Circle Members.

We rely on volunteers to help maintain our operations. Our volunteers assist our house staff in ensuring our patrons have a wonderful experience when they are here. We also have volunteers who support us in outreach, special events, blogging, and office work.

If you’d like to volunteer with us, fill out our volunteer application online.

YES! Advertising and film sponsorships are important revenue streams that support our non-profit mission. We have special advertising and sponsorships options that were designed with our local business community in mind. From very affordable $50 options to packages that include multi-channel, co-branded campaigns, we work with you to get the word out about your business being a valued partner to our theater.

Contact us at hello@greenbelttheatre.org to request an advertising packet.